Clube
Desportivo Mafra is a football club from the town of Mafra, which is located
around thirty miles north west of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. The
football club was formed on May 24th, 1965.
Initially, the club started out its life competing in the regional Associação de Futebol de
Lisboa leagues from their Campo Doutor Mário Silveira. The club built a good
youth foundation and eventually progressed to the national leagues after
winning the Campeonato Distrital Divisão Honra in 1991-92.
Following
several seasons in the third and then fourth tier Terceira Divisão after
restructuring, CD Mafra were promoted to the third level Segunda Divisão B for
2002-03. Three seasons later, the league was changed to Segunda Divisão.
The
team pushed on in the right direction and finished as runners-up in both
2010-11 and 2012-13. The third tier was renamed Campeonato Nacional de Seniores
for the 2013-14 campaign, with the new title being good to Mafra.
The
team finished top of the regional Serie F before falling short in the promotion
round. However, it was to be a different story in 2014-15 as Mafra finished the
regular season in second spot before winning the south group promotion round.
Mafra were promoted to the second-tier Segunda Liga for the 2015-16 season under coach Jorge Paixão before he was replaced by Jorge Neves, while moving home first team matches to the Estádio Municipal de Mafra.
It proved to be too steep a rise in standard for the team, who went straight back down to Campeonato de Portugal, where they settled before lifting the Serie D title in the streamlined 2017-18 competition to progress to the play-offs.
Wins over Vilaverdense FC and União de Leiria led to a 2-1 final win in front of over 10,000 fans against SC Farense at Estádio Nacional as Mafra came behind to win promotion with late goals from Ricardo Rodrigues and Juary Soares. The team led by Filipe Martins narrowly averted relegation before finishing in fourth after the 2019-20 season.
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| Estádio Municipal de Mafra stages the club's first team home games |
The second tier was renamed Liga Portugal 2, where Mafra consolidated its status under coach Ricardo Sousa. Rui Borges took over team affairs in 2022, taking the side to sixth place. Silas was given the job in 2023-24 before Tiago Ferreira, Paulo Alves, and Carlos Vaz Pinto all had spells in charge of the side, which was relegated the following season.
Orest Shala was appointed as coach as Mafra started the 2025-26 season in Liga 3.
CD Mafra will play in Liga 3 in the 2025-26 season.
My
visit
Saturday
13th February 2015
Sometimes
my groundhopping trips have been known to go not exactly to plan, but bring
great hilarity to my mates who shake their heads in disbelief. The afternoon
out in Mafra ranks right up there with the best of them. It was a lesson in
always double-checking all information before you set off.
Everything
had been planned and was going well. My tour of the Estádio Alvalade was good
and I’d found the stop to Mafra over the road at Campo Grande. I didn't have too much time to kill, as I didn’t want to arrive too early in such wet weather. My
plan was to take the 1.45 express bus.
As time got closer, I examined the
timetable and, using my Google Translate tool on my iPhone, I realised that it
only ran on school days! Eventually, the driver got back onto the bus and pulled
in for us to depart at 2.15. This
was pushing it tight and I realised that I’d probably miss kick off, but not to
worry.
I paid €7.20 for a return ticket and even had a quick nap once we’d climbed out of Lisbon’s northern suburbs. Once I woke, I became concerned. The mist and fog were getting thicker all the time. It
was so bad when we got to Mafra that the driver had to tell us that we’d
arrived. Normally, the giant Mafra National Palace would have dominated the
scene.
It was over the road, but it was nigh on invisible. Would the match be
on? I
went slightly off track, going down the wrong road heading down to the
club. I soon corrected myself and went round the corner onto R Serpa Pinto,
hearing shouts and the referee's whistle coming out of Campo Doutor Mário
Silveira. Everything was going to be alright!
Or
so I thought. The gate was open, and although there were a few fans near the
entrance, there was no football taking place on the main grass pitch. The noise
was coming from the artificial surface alongside where a junior match was
taking place.
This
is where I should have immediately asked or checked the internet, but I simply
put it down to the Segunda Liga match against Braga II being postponed. It
would be several hours before I noticed that Mafra had won that particular game
1-0, but it had been played at Estádio Municipal de Mafra, a further ten-minute walk away.
The
weather was so grim that it would have been awkward to find the other venue in any
case. I decided to take some photos of the club’s traditional home and have a
good look around. Like
many Portuguese venues, it was built into a hill. The main side had an open
terrace, then a covered stand across the halfway line, and then another large cover.
That was
used by maintenance and the groundsman. The far end had the changing rooms and
club buildings. The far side had a couple of steps of terracing with the second
pitch next to it. That pitch had a fine open terraced raised high above the
pitch. The entrance end consisted of a flat, open standing area.
Further
problems arrived when my phone started to cut out, despite there being plenty of
battery left. Something similar had happened to me in New York when at another
inadvertent game at Fordham Rams. I tried several times to get it back in
action, but it cut out again.
Cutting
my losses, I headed back to the bus stop. I had time to kill, so I had a Super
Bock while lamenting my luck. I tried to explain to the fellas behind the
counter what had happened while we watched the Real Madrid v Athletic Bilbao
match on TV. That must have confused them!
The
fog had cleared so much that I could see the walls of the palace over the road.
I thought that I’d got the camera on my phone to work, but it wasn’t to be. I
wasn’t too upset when the bus appeared in the gloom. I drifted off and woke up
at the terminus.
Rather
than go back to my apartment and get changed to go back out, I headed for
Rossio, where I knew there was an English pub nearby. The young lady in the
information booth sent me on the right way, and despite getting another soaking, I found The George and snaffled the one spare seat at the bar.
I
had a really nice conversation with a fella over from Bristol while watching
the Wales v Scotland rugby, and I caught up with all the football results and
Chelsea hammering Newcastle United. A few pints and a good chat with several in
the bar put me back on the right track.
The rest of the evening was spent wandering down to the waterfront before calling in at several bars along the way. By the time I got back, I was tired and emotional, but able to laugh at the day’s fiasco; even then, I found out that the game had gone ahead!